External accessibility systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Described are systems, methods and computer program products for generating accessible interface elements to facilitate presentation of alternative versions of a user interface or portions thereof to a user, such as a user having a disability. The disclosed systems, methods, and products allow users having a disability to more easily interact with and/or understand the user interfaces of consumer electronic devices. The disclosed systems, methods, and computer program products may facilitate obtaining images of the user interface and analyzing the images to convert, modify, or otherwise generate an accessible interface, or a portion thereof, for presentation to the user. For example, alternative interface presentations may be generated to allow a blind, deaf, low-vision, or color blind user to more easily understand and interact with the user interface.

FIELD

This application relates generally to the presentation of accessiblefeatures to users. More particularly, this application relates tomethods and system for converting non-accessible user interfaces toaccessible forms.

BACKGROUND

Consumer electronic device user interfaces may be difficult to use byusers with certain disabilities. As an example, a blind user may findnavigating a user interface for a consumer electronic device impossiblewithout the aid of tactile or audio feedback. Various consumerelectronic devices may directly implement accessible features for userswith some disabilities (e.g., closed captioning for deaf users), whileusers with other disabilities may find the features of the consumerelectronic devices so lacking that the users may not be able to operatethe devices.

SUMMARY

Described herein are systems, methods, and computer program products forgenerating accessible interface elements to facilitate presentation ofalternative versions of a user interface or portions thereof to a user,such as a user having a disability. The disclosed systems, methods, andproducts allow users having a disability to more easily interact withand/or understand the user interfaces of consumer electronic devices.

Advantageously, the disclosed systems, methods, and products permitnon-accessible consumer electronic devices to provide an accessibleinterface to a user having a disability without requiring changes to theuser interfaces of the consumer electronic devices. This may beachieved, for example, by obtaining images of the user interface andanalyzing the images to convert, modify, or otherwise generate anaccessible interface, or a portion thereof, for presentation to theuser. For example, alternative interface presentations may be generatedto allow a blind, deaf, low-vision, or color blind user to more easilyunderstand and interact with the user interface.

Inputs may be provided by the user, which may correspond to desiredcommands to be forwarded to the consumer electronic device. In this way,the systems, methods, and products provided herein may be useful forfacilitating user interaction with a consumer electronic device.

In a first aspect, methods are provided. In some embodiments, a methodof this aspect comprises obtaining, for example by a computing device,such as an accessibility system, an image of a graphical interface usingan image capture device, such as a graphical interface that correspondsto a consumer electronic device different from the computing device;analyzing the image to identify an interface element; generating anaccessible interface element using the interface element, such as anaccessible interface element that corresponds to a differentpresentation of the interface element to facilitate use by a user; andoutputting an audio or visual output of the accessible interfaceelement. Optionally, the interface element corresponds to a focusableelement of the graphical interface. Optionally, the interface elementcorresponds to a nonfocusable element of the graphical interface.

In some embodiments, a user may interact with the computing device, suchas by providing inputs, which may be useful for controlling or intendedto control the computing device or the consumer electronic device. Insome embodiments, a method of this aspect further comprises receivinginput corresponding to identification of the interface element; andwirelessly transmitting a command to facilitate selection of theinterface element in the graphical interface. Optionally, wirelesslytransmitting the command includes transmitting the command using aninfrared signal, transmitting the command using a radio frequencysignal, transmitting the command using a WiFi signal, transmitting thecommand using a Bluetooth signal, transmitting the command using aConsumer Electronics Control signal, and any combination of these. Insome embodiments, methods of this aspect may optionally further comprisereceiving the command at an actuation device; and actuating a physicalinput device using the actuation device to facilitate selection of theinterface element in the graphical interface.

Feedback to the user may optionally be provided to the user to indicatethat input was received or that a command was transmitted. For example,methods of this aspect may optionally further comprise outputting asecond audio or visual output to confirm selection of the interfaceelement or outputting a tactile output to confirm selection of theinterface element.

In some embodiments, additional input may be provided. For example,methods of this aspect may optionally further comprise receiving inputcorresponding to selection of a second interface element; generating asecond accessible interface element using the second interface elementto facilitate use by the user; and outputting a second audio or visualoutput of the second accessible interface element. Optionally, receivinginput includes receiving input via a touch-based, motion-based, orvoice-based input device. Optionally, the second interface elementcorresponds to a portion of the graphical interface. Optionally, thesecond interface element corresponds to a focusable element of thegraphical interface. Optionally, the second interface elementcorresponds to a nonfocusable element of the graphical interface.Optionally, a method of this aspect may further comprise receiving inputcorresponding to selection of a second interface element; and receivinginput corresponding to a command to ignore the second interface element.

In some embodiments, methods of this aspect may perform image analysisto identify the interface element. For example, analyzing the imageoptionally includes identifying text in the graphical interface.Alternatively or additionally, analyzing the image includes identifyingelement focus in the graphical interface. For example, some methods ofthis aspect may further comprise obtaining a second image of thegraphical interface using the image capture device; analyzing the imageof the graphical interface and the second image of the graphicalinterface to identify a change to the graphical interface; anddetermining element focus in the graphical interface based on thechange.

Optionally, the computing device comprises the image capture device.Optionally, image capture device is remote from and in datacommunication with the computing device. For example, a standalone imagecapture device may be used with methods of this aspect, such as tofacilitate continued or uninterrupted viewing of the graphical interfacecorresponding to the consumer electronic device.

A variety of graphical interfaces may be useful with the methods of thisaspect. For example, in some embodiments, the graphical interfacecorresponds to a television receiver interface. A variety of consumerelectronics devices may be useful with the methods of this aspect. Forexample, the consumer electronics device may be or include, but is notlimited to, a TV, a television receiver, a set top box, an over-the-airreceiver, an over-the-top receiver, a VCR, a DVR, a DVD player, aBlu-ray player, a Laserdisc player, a video game console, an audioreceiver, an HVAC system, a security system, and a home automationsystem.

A variety of accessible interface elements may be generated by themethods of this aspect. For example, useful accessible interfaceelements include, but are not limited to, an audio version of theinterface element, a text version of an audio interface element, analternative color version of the interface element, a magnified versionof the interface element, a simplified language version of the interfaceelement, a translated language version of the interface element, aversion of text having a second font size greater than a first font sizeof text in the interface element, a version of text having a secondtexture different from a first texture of text in the interface element,a version of text having a second font style different from a first fontstyle of text in the interface element. Other examples are possible.

In some embodiments, the methods of this aspect provide for aconfigurable generation of accessible interface elements, such as tofacilitate presentation and/or use of the graphical interface by aparticular user, such as a particular user having one or moredisabilities. In some embodiments, for example, methods of this aspectmay further comprise generating a graphical interface providing aselectable element, such as a selectable element that corresponds to atype of the accessible interface element; receiving input correspondingto a particular selection of the selectable element, such thatgenerating the accessible interface element includes using the interfaceelement and the type corresponding to the particular selection of theselectable element. Useful types may correspond to different versions ofthe accessible interface elements, such as a version useful for a deafuser, a blind user, a low vision user, or a color blind user.

In some embodiments, methods of this aspect are useful for determiningcontextual aspects of the graphical interface or programming showed bythe consumer electronic device and providing additional informationabout the contextual aspects to the user. For example, text or audio maybe analyzed to determine and provide a meaning or origin of the words inthe text or audio, or an actor may be identified to determine andprovide identity information or other related information about theactor to the user. In some embodiments, for example, methods of thisaspect may further comprise obtaining audio output generated by theconsumer electronic device using an audio capture device; analyzing theaudio to identify a contextual element in the audio; generating anaccessible contextual element using the contextual element, such aswhere the accessible contextual element corresponds to a differentpresentation of the contextual element to facilitate presentation to theuser; and outputting an audio or visual output of the accessiblecontextual element. For example, the contextual element optionallycorresponds to spoken language and the accessible contextual elementoptionally corresponds to a text version of the spoken language, asimplified language version of the spoken language, or a translatedlanguage version of the spoken language. Optionally, the contextualelement corresponds to a stream of a spoken language and the accessiblecontextual element corresponds to a streaming text version of the spokenlanguage, a streaming simplified language version of the spokenlanguage, or a streaming translated language version of the spokenlanguage.

Optionally, analyzing the audio includes performing voice or speechrecognition on the audio to determine identities or a number of speakersin the audio. Optionally, analyzing the audio includes performing voiceor speech recognition on the audio to determine an identity of a speakerin the audio, and wherein generating the accessible contextual elementincludes obtaining information regarding the speaker. Optionally,analyzing the audio includes performing voice or speech recognition onthe audio to determine a spoken language content of the audio, andwherein generating the accessible contextual element includes obtaininginformation regarding the spoken language content.

In some embodiments, methods of this aspect may further compriseobtaining a second image corresponding to a video presentation of theconsumer electronic device using the image capture device; analyzing thesecond image to identify a contextual element; generating an accessiblecontextual element using the contextual element, such as where theaccessible contextual element corresponds to a different presentation ofthe contextual element to facilitate presentation to the user; andoutputting an audio or visual output of the accessible contextualelement. Optionally, the contextual element corresponds to writtenlanguage and wherein the accessible contextual element corresponds to amagnified version of the written language, an alternatively coloredversion of the written language, a simplified language version of thewritten language, a different font texture or font style from thewritten language, or a translated language version of the writtenlanguage. Optionally, analyzing the second image includes performingtext recognition on the second image to determine written languagedepicted in the second image. Optionally, analyzing the second imageincludes performing facial recognition on the second image to determineidentities or a number of persons depicted in the second image.Optionally, analyzing the second image includes performing facialrecognition on the second image to determine an identity of a persondepicted in the image, and generating the accessible contextual elementincludes obtaining information regarding the person using the identity.

In another aspect, systems are provided. System of various embodimentsprovided herein may perform any of the above methods. For example,systems of various embodiments may include one or more processors; and anon-transitory computer readable storage medium in data communicationwith the one or more processors, wherein non-transitory computerreadable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations including, such as operationscorresponding to the above described methods. In some embodiments, theoperations include obtaining an image of a graphical interface using animage capture device, such as a graphical interface that corresponds toa consumer electronic device different from the system; analyzing theimage to identify an interface element; generating an accessibleinterface element using the interface element, such as an accessibleinterface element corresponds to a different presentation of theinterface element to facilitate use by a user; and outputting an audioor visual output of the accessible interface element.

Systems of this aspect may include additional components. For example, asystem may optionally further comprises the image capture device, suchas where the image capture device is positioned in data communicationwith the one or more processors. Additionally or alternatively, a systemmay further comprise an audio capture device, such as an audio capturedevice positioned in data communication with the one or more processors.

It will again be appreciated that the systems of this aspect mayoptionally perform any of the methods described above. For example, theinstructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, may cause the one or moreprocessors to perform any of the methods described above.

In another aspect, receivers are provided. In some embodiments, areceiver of this aspect may correspond to a television receiver, such asa cable television receiver, a satellite television receiver, anover-the-air receiver, an over-the-top receiver, or some otherset-top-box type of receiver. In some embodiments, the receiver isdirectly integrated into a television or other display device, such as asmartphone, laptop, personal computer, tablet computer, etc. Inembodiments, a receiver of this aspect may comprise one or moreprocessors; an audio-video output interface in data communication withthe one or more processors; a network interface in data communicationwith the one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium in data communication with the one or more processors.Optionally, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium includesprocessor-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsincluding establishing a data connection with a remote computing deviceusing the network interface; generating a graphical interface for outputby a presentation device using the audio-video output interface;identifying an interface element of the graphical interface; generatingan accessible interface element using the interface element, such as anaccessible interface element that corresponds to a differentpresentation of the interface element to facilitate use by a user; andtransmitting, using the network interface, a signal providing theaccessible interface element to the remote computing device tofacilitate an audio or visual presentation of the accessible interfaceelement to a user.

Optionally, the accessible interface element corresponds to an audioversion of the interface element. Optionally, the accessible interfaceelement corresponds to a magnified version of the interface element.Optionally, the accessible interface element corresponds to analternative color version of the interface element. Optionally, theaccessible interface element corresponds to a simplified languageversion of the interface element. Optionally, the accessible interfaceelement corresponds to a translated language version of the interfaceelement. Optionally, the accessible interface element corresponds to aversion of text having a second font size greater than a first font sizeof text in the interface element. Optionally, the accessible interfaceelement corresponds to a version of text having a second font styledifferent from a first font style of text in the interface element.Optionally, the accessible interface element corresponds to a version oftext having a second texture different from a first texture of text inthe interface element.

In some embodiments, the operations may further include analyzing audioreceived at or generated by the receiver to identify a contextualelement in the audio; generating an accessible contextual element usingthe contextual element, such as where the accessible contextual elementcorresponds to a different presentation of the contextual element tofacilitate presentation to the user; and transmitting, using the networkinterface, a signal providing the accessible contextual element to theremote computing device to facilitate an audio or visual presentation ofthe accessible interface element to the user.

In some embodiments, the operations may further include analyzing videoreceived at or generated by the receiver to identify a contextualelement in the video; generating an accessible contextual element usingthe contextual element, such as where the accessible contextual elementcorresponds to a different presentation of the contextual element tofacilitate presentation to the user; and transmitting, using the networkinterface, a signal providing the accessible contextual element to theremote computing device to facilitate an audio or visual presentation ofthe accessible interface element to the user.

Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, there can bediscussion herein of beliefs or understandings of underlying principlesrelating to the invention. It is recognized that regardless of theultimate correctness of any mechanistic explanation or hypothesis, anembodiment of the invention can nonetheless be operative and useful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of variousembodiments may be realized by reference to the following figures. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a satellite television distributionsystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a consumer electronic device and anaccessibility system, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a consumer electronic device and anaccessibility system, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a consumer electronic device and anaccessibility system, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a consumer electronic device and anaccessibility system, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6, illustrates an example of a configuration interface of anaccessibility system, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 provides an overview of a method for generating accessibleinterface elements, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a consumer electronic device and anaccessibility system, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 provides a block diagram illustration of a receiver incorporatingaccessibility features, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 provides a schematic illustration of aspects of a receiverincorporating an accessibility module for use with an accessibilitysystem, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 provides an overview of a method for operating a receiver thatincorporates accessibility features, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 12 provides a block diagram of an example computing device, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In embodiments, the present invention provides systems, methods, andcomputer program products for facilitating conversion of user interfacesto accessible interfaces, such as to allow for more simple or tootherwise enable a user having a disability to use the user interface.In embodiments, the systems, methods, and computer program products makeuse of captured images of a user interface and analyze the images toidentify elements to be converted to an accessible form. The accessibleform may be optimized and/or configured to meet the needs of the user,and, for example, may allow a blind, deaf, color blind, or low visionuser to have a better user experience than using the original userinterface.

In embodiments, the present invention is exemplified in a hand-heldportable electronic device, which may include a camera and/or which maymake use of images obtained by a remote camera. The hand-held device maycorrespond, for example to a tablet computer or a smartphone type deviceand, in some embodiments, may be a tablet computer or a smartphoneperforming methods of various aspects described herein.

In addition to providing a better user experience for users havingdisabilities, embodiments described herein also allow users that do notspeak or read a language of a user interface to be presented with atranslated user interface that they may more easily understand. In thisway, even consumer electronic devices that do not include accessibilityfeatures or alternative language interfaces may be used by a user havinga disability or a language barrier.

Additionally, various embodiments described herein may also provideadditional information to a user beyond what is included in the userinterface, which may be referred to herein as contextual information.Examples of contextual information may be an identity of a charactershown in a video program, or a speaker in an audio program or audioportion of a video program. Additionally, text and audio analysis mayallow some embodiments to identify content of a video or audio programand obtain additional information related to the content and present theadditional information to a user. Optionally, the additional informationmay be presented in an accessible format to facilitate presenting to auser having a disability.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem 100. Satellite television distribution system 100 may include:television service provider system 110, satellite transmitter equipment120-1 and 120-2 (collectively, satellite transmitter equipment 120),satellites 130-1 and 130-2 (collectively, satellites 130), satellitedish 140, receiver 150, and television 160. Alternate embodiments ofsatellite television distribution system 100 may include fewer orgreater numbers of components. While only one satellite dish 140,receiver 150, and television 160 (collectively referred to as “userequipment”) are illustrated, it will be appreciated that multiple (e.g.,tens, thousands, millions) instances of user equipment may receivetelevision signals from satellites 130. For example, a particular personmay have user equipment at multiple homes or other locations.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a satellite-based television channeldistribution system. It should be understood that at least some of theaspects of the satellite-based television channel distribution systemmay be similar to a cable television distribution system. For example,in a cable television system, rather than using satellite transponders,multiple RF channels on a coaxial cable may be used to transmit streamsof television channels. Alternatively or additionally, digital data maybe transmitted across fiber optic cables or other network links. Assuch, aspects detailed herein may be applicable to cable televisiondistribution systems or other network-based distribution systems. Otherforms of television distribution networks include broadcast over-the-airsystems and IP-based or over-the-top distribution systems.

Television service provider system 110 and satellite transmitterequipment 120 may be operated by a television service provider. Atelevision service provider may distribute television channels,on-demand programming, programming information, and/or other services toviewers. Television service provider system 110 may receive feeds of oneor more television channels from various sources, such as contentprovider system 111. Content provider system 111 may provide televisionprograms, advertisements, and other forms of content. For example,content provider system 111 may be a television network, such as ESPN®.To distribute such television channels to users, feeds of the televisionchannels may be relayed to user equipment via one or more satellites viatransponder streams. Satellite transmitter equipment 120 may be used totransmit a feed of one or more television channels from televisionservice provider system 110 to one or more satellites 130. Suchsatellite feeds may be unidirectional—user equipment may not be able totransmit information back to television service provider system 110 viasatellites 130. While a single television service provider system 110and two satellite transmitter equipment 120 are illustrated as part ofsatellite television distribution system 100, it should be understoodthat multiple instances of transmitter equipment may be used, possiblyscattered geographically to communicate with satellites 130. Suchmultiple instances of satellite transmitting equipment may communicatewith the same or with different satellites. Different televisionchannels and content may be transmitted to satellites 130 from differentinstances of transmitting equipment. For instance, a different satellitedish of transmitting equipment 120 may be used for communication withsatellites in different orbital slots.

Satellites 130 may be configured to receive signals, such as streams oftelevision channels, from one or more satellite uplinks, such as fromsatellite transmitter equipment 120. Satellites 130 may relay receivedsignals from satellite transmitter equipment 120 (and/or other satellitetransmitter equipment) to multiple instances of user equipment viatransponder streams. Different frequencies may be used for uplinksignals 170-1 and 170-2 (collectively, uplink signals 170) from downlinksignals 180-1 and 180-2 (collectively, downlink signals 180). Satellites130 may be in geosynchronous orbit. Each satellite 130 may be in adifferent orbital slot, such that the signal path between eachsatellite, uplink stations, and user equipment vary. Multiple satellites130 may be used to relay television channels from television serviceprovider system 110 to satellite dish 140. Different television channelsmay be carried using different satellites. Different television channelsmay also be carried using different transponders of the same satellite;thus, such television channels may be transmitted at differentfrequencies and/or different frequency ranges. As an example, a firstand second television channel may be carried on a first transponder ofsatellite 130-1. A third, fourth, and fifth television channel may becarried using a different satellite or a different transponder of thesame satellite relaying the transponder stream at a different frequency.A transponder stream transmitted by a particular transponder of aparticular satellite may include a finite number of television channels,such as seven. Accordingly, if many television channels are to be madeavailable for viewing and recording, multiple transponder streams may benecessary to transmit all of the television channels to the instances ofuser equipment.

Satellite dish 140 may be a piece of user equipment that is used toreceive transponder streams from one or more satellites, such assatellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be provided to a user for use ona subscription basis to receive television channels provided by thetelevision service provider system 110, satellite uplink 120, and/orsatellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be configured to receivetransponder streams from multiple satellites and/or multipletransponders of the same satellite. Satellite dish 140 may be configuredto receive television channels via transponder streams on multiplefrequencies. Based on the characteristics of receiver 150 and/orsatellite dish 140, it may only be possible to capture transponderstreams from a limited number of transponders concurrently. For example,a tuner of receiver 150 may only be able to tune to a single transponderstream from a transponder of a single satellite at a time.

In communication with satellite dish 140, may be one or more sets ofreceiving equipment. Receiving equipment may be configured to decodesignals received from satellites 130 via satellite dish 140 for displayon a display or presentation device, such as television 160. Receivingequipment may be incorporated as part of a television or may be part ofa separate device, commonly referred to as a set-top box (STB).Receiving equipment may include a satellite tuner configured to receivetelevision channels via a satellite. In FIG. 1, receiving equipment ispresent in the form of receiver 150, which may be a STB. Alternatively,receiver 150 may be integrated directly into television 160. Optionally,receiver 150 may correspond to an over-the-air receiver, an over-the-topreceiver, or other system for receiving television or video programming.Optionally, such receivers may provide electronic program guideinformation and/or user interfaces that present information to a user.Receiver 150 may thus decode signals and provide an output to television160. FIG. 9 provides additional detail of receiving equipment.

Television 160 may be used to present video and/or audio decoded byreceiver 150. Receiver 150 may also output a display of one or moreinterfaces to television 160, such as an electronic programming guide(EPG). In some embodiments, a display device other than a television maybe used.

Uplink signal 170-1 represents a signal between satellite uplink 120-1and satellite 130-1. Uplink signal 170-2 represents a signal betweensatellite uplink 120-2 and satellite 130-2. Each of uplink signals 170may contain streams of one or more different television channels. Forexample, uplink signal 170-1 may contain a certain group of televisionchannels, while uplink signal 170-2 contains a different grouping oftelevision channels. Each of these television channels may be scrambledsuch that unauthorized persons are prevented from accessing thetelevision channels.

Transponder stream 180-1 represents a signal between satellite 130-1 andsatellite dish 140. Transponder stream 180-2 represents a signal pathbetween satellite 130-2 and satellite dish 140. Each of transponderstreams 180 may contain one or more different television channels in theform of transponder streams, which may be at least partially scrambled.For example, transponder stream 180-1 may include a first transponderstream containing a first group of television channels, whiletransponder stream 180-2 may include a second transponder streamcontaining a different group of television channels. A satellite maytransmit multiple transponder streams to user equipment. For example, atypical satellite may relay 32 transponder streams via correspondingtransponders to user equipment. Further, spot beams are possible. Forexample, a satellite may be able to transmit a transponder stream to aparticular geographic region (e.g., to distribute local televisionchannels to the relevant market). Different television channels may betransmitted using the same frequency of the transponder stream to adifferent geographic region.

FIG. 1 illustrates transponder stream 180-1 and transponder stream 180-2being received by satellite dish 140. For a first group of televisionchannels, satellite dish 140 may receive a transponder stream oftransponder stream 180-1; for a second group of channels, a transponderstream of transponder stream 180-2 may be received. Receiver 150 maydecode the received transponder stream. As such, depending on whichtelevision channel(s) are desired, a transponder stream from a differentsatellite (or a different transponder of the same satellite) may beaccessed and decoded by receiver 150. Further, while two satellites arepresent in satellite television distribution system 100, in otherembodiments greater or fewer numbers of satellites may be present forreceiving and transmitting transponder streams to user equipment.

Network 190 may serve as a secondary communication channel betweentelevision service provider system 110 and receiver 150. Via such asecondary communication channel, bidirectional exchange of data mayoccur. As such, data may be transmitted to television service providersystem 110 via network 190. The connection between network 190 andreceiver 150 is illustrated as dotted since this connection allowingcommunications from receiver 150 to be sent to television serviceprovider system 110 may not be available (e.g., receiver 150 may nothave such communication capabilities, receiver 150 may have suchcapabilities but may not be connected with network 190). For example,even if a receiver is capable of communicating using network 190,communication using network 190 may require that the user has an activeaccount with an internet service provider. Accordingly, some receiversmay only be able to receive data from satellites 130 via receivingequipment, such as satellite dish 140. In other situations, while a usermay have an active ISP account, such as via a fiber, cable, or DSLinternet connection, equipment failure may occur. For instance, a routerthrough which receiver 150 connects to network 190 may fail or be inneed of resetting. Network 190 may be or include the Internet.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example environment 200 including a television 205and an accessibility system 210. Television 205 depicts a user interfaceincluding a window 215 and an electronic program guide (EPG) 220. Window215 may provide a live feed of video programming, for example, receivedfrom a television service provider, and EPG 210 may provide channelinformation, timing information, program information, and the like tofacilitate user interaction with the television service, such as toallow a user to plan for program viewing. As an example, EPG 220includes interface elements corresponding to various channels, timeslots, programs, etc. The interface element “World Series” is indicatedwith shading and a highlighted border to indicate that this element isfocused by the user interface. In some embodiments, if the television205 or other device generating the user interface displayed ontelevision 205 receives input corresponding to a selection, this may inturn select, activate, or otherwise advance the user interface on theelement having focus 240. Here, selection of the interface element“World Series” having focus 240 may activate for immediate presentation,such as in window 215, the television programming corresponding to theWorld Series. Other configurations are possible, such as activation of arecording of the World Series programming, obtaining information aboutthe programming, etc. It will be appreciated that input may be providedby conventional input devices, such as an infrared or radio frequencyremote control, to allow for some aspect of user interaction. Primarily,transmission of information from the television 205 to the user may beby way of an audio or video output.

It will be appreciated that some users may be incapable or havedifficulties interacting with television 205 and EPG 220. For example,users that have vision difficulties, such as blind users, color blindusers, or low-vision users, may not be able to easily interact withtelevision 205 and EPG 220 using the video output and a remote control,since they may not be able to perceive buttons on the remote or elementsdisplayed on the display. Unfortunately, not all consumer electronicsdevices include features allowing access by users many differentabilities. The present disclosure provides solutions for theinteraction, such as by way of an accessibility system 210.

As depicted, accessibility system 210 comprises a handheld device,similar to a tablet computer or smartphone. In some embodiments,accessibility system 210 comprises a tablet computer or smartphoneincorporating aspects described herein into a software program runningon the tablet computer or smartphone. Accessibility system 210 includesa digital camera 225, for example positioned on the back ofaccessibility system, such that it can obtain images of user interfaces,such as displayed on television 205.

Accessibility system 210 also includes a display 230, which maycorrespond to a touch sensitive display. Inclusion of a touch sensitivedisplay may be useful for receiving input from a user, such as inputcorresponding to selection of an interface element. In embodiments,accessibility system may transmit commands to a consumer electronicdevice generating the display being imaged by the camera 225 ofaccessibility system 210.

In FIG. 2, accessibility system 210 also includes a speaker 235, toprovide a mechanism for audio output. Other features may be included inaccessibility system, including an audio output port (e.g., a headphonejack), a video output port (e.g., an HDMI port), a general input/outputport (e.g., USB port), etc. to facilitate presentation of information toa user.

Processing capabilities included in accessibility system 210 allow it toperform image processing to identify interface elements presented in theuser interface imaged by digital camera 225. In embodiments, imageprocessing may be useful for identifying one or more interface elements.Accessibility system 210 may then analyze the interface elements andgenerate accessible interface elements using the identified and/oranalyzed interface elements.

In embodiments, one or more images of the user interface may be analyzedto identify interface elements having focus. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 2, the EPG 220 may be imaged by digital camera 225 and theimage(s) so obtained may be analyzed to identify one or more interfaceelements, including one or more interface elements having focus and oneor more interface elements lacking focus. Focus may be identified, forexample, by obtaining multiple images and comparing the images toidentify differences. Here, the black border and shading may, forexample, change, move, flash, etc., and so accessibility system 220 maybe able to detect these changes and identify focus.

As depicted in FIG. 2, the accessibility system 210 may output ondisplay 230 the accessible interface elements, which may correspond tomagnified or larger text font size versions of at least a portion of theinterface elements output by the television 205. As another example,audio may be output by the speaker 235 as an audio accessibilityelement. Here, the accessible interface element corresponding to anaudio version of the words “World Series” is output as audio via speaker235. The larger or magnified text and the audio output may allow apartially blind or low vision user to perceive the information presentedin the EPG 220. As focus is moved through user interaction (e.g., via aremote control), the display 230 may be updated to match the focus.Additionally or alternatively, as focus is moved through userinteraction, audio output by speaker 235 may correspond to the itemselected by the focus.

It will be appreciated that, although accessibility system 215 includesdigital camera 225 and speaker 235, embodiments are contemplated wherethese elements are positioned external to accessibility system 215. Forexample, FIG. 3 depicts an example environment including a television305, an accessibility system 310, and a camera device 325 that isseparate and/or distinct from accessibility system 310. Use of aseparate camera 325 may be advantageous as camera 325 may be positionedin stationary manner such that it is always directed at television 305.It will be appreciated that multiple cameras may be used with thesystems and methods disclosed herein, such as a first camera included inan accessibility system and a second camera separate from theaccessibility system.

Television 305 is again displaying a window 315, which may include videoprogramming, and an EPG 320. In window 315, text may be displayed. Forexample, text may be presented as part of the video programming.Optionally, text may be presented such as in a closed captioning feed.Here, the text “Announcer: Stevens on Deck, count is 3 and 2” isdisplayed in window 315.

Camera 325 may image television 305 and provide the image toaccessibility system 310 for analysis. Optionally, the camera 325 or adevice including the camera 325 may include processing capabilities toperform image analysis. Upon analysis, one or more interface elementspresent in the display on television 305 may be identified. Theseinterface elements may be used to generate accessible interface elementsto allow for output by accessibility system 310. For example, theaccessible interface elements may correspond to an alternatively coloredversion of the interface elements to allow for a color blind or lowvision user to more easily view the information provided therewith.

Additionally or alternatively, the camera 325 or an external deviceincluding camera 325 may also include a speaker 335 to allow for outputof the accessible interface element. In FIG. 3, the speaker 335 isoutputting audio corresponding to a spoken version of the words “WorldSeries”, which may correlate with the interface item identified bysystem 310 as having focus. Other implementations are possible,including where the audio output corresponds to elements not havingfocus or elements identified by a user, such as by way of inputcorresponding to selection of an interface element.

In addition to a change in color or size of font or audio output asaccessible interface elements, a change in font texture is alsocontemplated, which may allow particular users to more easily viewand/or read the text.

Additionally or alternatively, various language versions of interfaceelements may correspond to an accessible interface element. For example,if a user interface presented by television 305 included text or audioin a first language, an accessible interface element may correspond to atranslated or alternative language version of the text or audio.Processing capabilities on the accessibility system 310 may obtainand/or generate a translation of the text or audio for use in generatingthe accessible interface elements.

In one embodiment, an accessible interface element corresponding to analternative language version of an interface element may correspond to asimplified language version, which may include more easilyunderstandable terminology, but in the same or a foreign language. As anexample, the text “Stevens on Deck, Count is 3 and 2” may be obtained byaccessibility and used to generate a simplified language version of thetext for output by the display 330, such as “Stevens is batting next.There are 3 balls and 2 strikes.” Such generation of accessibleinterface elements including simplified or translated language maybenefit users who are unable to understand the language presented in aninterface element.

Aside from a television, set-top-box, or receiver, aspects of theinvention are useful for making previous generation consumer electronicdevices more accessible. It will be appreciated that many previousgeneration consumer electronic devices may not include accessibilityfeatures that may allow for easy control or interaction by users, suchas users having disability, learning, language, or other barrierspreventing use of the interface of the previous generation consumerelectronic devices. Example consumer electronic devices include, but arenot limited to a TV, a television receiver, a set top box, anover-the-air receiver, an over-the-top receiver, a VCR, a DVR, a DVDplayer, a Blu-ray player, a Laserdisc player, a video game console, anaudio receiver, an HVAC system, a security system, and a home automationsystem.

FIG. 4 depicts an environment 400 in which a television 405 isdisplaying a user interface 410 of a VCR 415, which may not includeaccessibility features or which may only include limited accessibilityfeatures, such as alternative languages or closed captioning, etc.Accessibility system 420 provides for output of accessible interfaceelements corresponding to the user interface 410 of VCR 415, such as byimaging the display of television 405, identifying interface elements ofthe user interface 410, generating accessible interface elements andoutputting the accessible interface elements. As illustrated,accessibility system 420 may display large font size versions of theinterface elements included in user interface 410 or may output audiocorresponding to the accessible interface elements. Other types andconfigurations of accessible interface elements are contemplated, asdescribed throughout the present description, such as alternative color,alternative font characteristics, translated or alternative languageversions, etc.

In various embodiments, accessibility systems may generate and outputaccessible interface elements corresponding to control inputs on aconsumer electronic device. Here, accessibility system 420 generates anddisplays accessible interface elements 425 corresponding to at least asubset of the various user inputs available on VCR 415. For example,interface elements 425 include controls for recording, pausing, playing,rewinding, fast forwarding, stopping, and ejecting. These interfaceelements 425 may correspond directly to one or more physical interfaceelements 435, which may be buttons, etc. Accessibility system 420 mayinclude an infrared transmitter 430 or other transmission device fortransmitting control commands to the VCR 415.

FIG. 5 provides a schematic illustration of an environment 500 includinga VCR 505 and an accessibility system 510. For simplicity ofillustration, a display device, such as a television is not depicted inFIG. 5, but it will be appreciated that a camera (also not shown) may beused to obtain images of a user interface of VCR 505 that is presentedon the display device, so that accessibility system 510 may use theobtained images to generate accessible interface elements.

Here, inputs may be provided and used to control VCR 505. Optionally, atouch sensitive interface included in accessibility system 510 may beused to obtain user input. For simplicity of the description, inputswill be described with reference to FIG. 5 by way of the touch sensitiveinterface, but it will be appreciated that other input methods may beutilized. For example, gesture or vocal command based inputs may beprovided, such as by way of gesture and audio input device 515, whichmay provide detected commands to accessibility device 510 using a wiredor wireless connection.

A user 520 may generate inputs corresponding to selection of anaccessible interface element displayed by accessibility system 510. Forexample, user 520 may wish to change a language setting of VCR 505 andso may indicate this by touching that portion of the display, forexample. Other configurations are possible, including navigation of theuser interface of VCR 505 using the other accessible interface elements(e.g., record, pause, play, rewind, fast forward, stop, eject, etc.)that may correspond more directly with the manual control of VCR 505using physical inputs located on the VCR 505.

In contrast to FIG. 4, in some embodiments, accessibility system 510 maynot be able to provide remote commands directly to VCR 505, such as byway of an infrared or radio frequency transmission. Optionally, aphysical input device may be used to actuate buttons on a consumerelectronic device so as to control the consumer electronic device by wayof an accessibility system. For example, FIG. 5 shows a physical inputactuator 525 which may include, for example, one or more solenoids orother actuators for physically depressing buttons on VCR 505. Forexample, to activate the language select interface element afterreceiving input from user 520 on touch sensitive interface ofaccessibility system 510, accessibility system 510 may transmit (over awired or wireless connection) one or more commands to actuator 525, and,following receipt, actuator 525 may actuate one or more of the physicalbuttons on VCR 505, such as a fast forward button in order to move focusto the language selection interface element followed by actuation of theplay button to activate selection of the language selection interfaceelement. Other implementations are possible.

In some embodiments, an accessibility system may generate one or morefeedback outputs to confirm receipt of user input and/or to confirmtransmission to the consumer electronic device. In FIG. 5, variousfeedback outputs are depicted, including a tactile feedback output 530(e.g., a vibration), an audio feedback output 535 (e.g., a “beep” orother audible notification), and optical feedback output 540 (e.g.,activation of a light emitting diode).

In various embodiments, an accessibility system may be configurable suchthat a user may activate various types of accessible interface elementsin order to best suit their needs. FIG. 6 provides a schematicillustration of a configuration interface 605 of an accessibility system610. The configuration interface 605 may allow for activation ordeactivation of various features of the accessibility system 610.Additionally the configuration interface 605 may allow for configurationor setup of the various features of the accessibility system. Selectionof the activation or deactivation may, for example, activate a flagstored in memory associated with the accessibility system 610 so thatthe accessibility system may output only accessible interface elementscorresponding to the activated features. The accessibility system 610may also store the preferences associated with each of the types ofaccessibility features.

As a first example, a color change for accessible interface elements maybe activated and/or configured. The color change feature may allow forthe accessible interface element to be, for example, a different colorfrom the interface element presented in the user interface. For example,contrasting colors may be selected so as to allow a low-vision user tomore easily perceive the accessible interface elements. As anotherexample, colors may be selected so as to allow a color blind user tomore easily perceive the accessible interface element.

As a second example, a text change for accessible interface elements maybe activated and/or configured. The text change feature may allow forthe accessible interface element to have a different font size,different font style, or different font texture, for example, from theinterface element presented in the user interface. For example, a largefont size may be selected so as to allow a low-vision user to moreeasily perceive the accessible interface elements.

FIG. 7 provides an overview of a method embodiment 700 for generatingand outputting accessible interface elements. At block 705, the methodincludes obtaining an image of a graphical interface using an imagecapture device. As described above, a camera integrated into anaccessibility system may be used, but a standalone camera or a cameraintegrated into another device may also be used. Optionally, at block710, a second image of the graphical interface element may be obtainedand used to identify a change from the image to identify or determineelement focus in the user interface.

At block 715, the image(s) is/are analyzed to identify one or moreinterface elements. For example, image processing techniques may beused, such as optical character recognition, shape recognition, etc., toidentify the interface elements. Optionally, at block 720, input may bereceived, such as by way of a touch sensitive, position sensitive, orgesture-based input device, to allow for user selection oridentification of an interface element.

At block 725, an accessible interface element may be generated.Generation of an accessible interface element may correspond toreceiving the accessible interface element. Optionally, generation ofthe accessible interface element may correspond to using the interfaceelement identified at block 715 or 720 along with user preferences togenerate the accessible interface element. For example, user preferencesmay correspond to activation or selection of particular types ofaccessible interface elements, such as to accommodate a low-vision user,a blind user, a deaf user, a color blind user, or any combination ofthese.

At block 730, the accessible interface element is output, such as by wayof an audio or visual output. In embodiments, the accessible interfaceelement may be different from the interface element. For example, theaccessible interface element may have a different font size, style,color, texture, than the interface element. Optionally, the accessibleinterface element may correspond to a different type of presentationthan the interface element, such as where the interface element is atext element and the accessible interface element is an audio output.

Optionally, at block 745 an input may be received corresponding toselection of a second interface element. At block 750 a secondaccessible interface element may be generated. At block 755 an audio orvisual output of the second accessible interface element may begenerated. Optionally, the second accessible interface element may be ofa different type than the accessible interface element generated atblock 725. In this way, multiple and different types of accessibleinterface elements may be generated and output, optionallysimultaneously. For example, accessible interface elements correspondingto either or both focused interface elements and non-focused interfaceelements may be generated and output.

At block 760, audio and/or video may be obtained, such as by way of anaudio capture device (e.g., a microphone) and/or a video capture device(e.g., a camera). The captured audio and/or video may be analyzed toidentify one or more contextual elements. For example, voice or audiorecognition techniques may be applied to captured audio to identify acontextual element. Alternatively or additionally, image, character, orfacial recognition techniques may be applied to captured video toidentify a contextual element.

Contextual elements may correspond, for example, to an identity of acharacter shown in a video frame, or text depicted in a video frame, orspoken language in an audio segment. Contextual elements contrast withinterface elements in that interface elements correspond to userinterface features of a consumer electronic device, while contextualelements may correspond to aspects of the content of audio or videobeing displayed or output by a consumer electronic device.

At block 765, an accessible contextual element is generated. Forexample, the contextual elements may be used to obtain information aboutthe character shown in the video frame, the text depicted in the videoframe, or the spoken language in the audio segment, and the informationmay be used to generate the accessible contextual element. For example,the information may be different than simply the content of thecontextual element. As a specific example, the contextual element maycorrespond to an identity (i.e., a name) of an actor or character shownin a video segment. The information obtained may correspond toinformation about the actor, such as biographical information otherinformation about the actor beyond the actor's name. It will beappreciated that a variety of sources for the information may exist,such as a network or Internet source or a local database containedwithin the accessibility system that may be optionally updatedperiodically or aperiodically. Example sources may correspond to theInternet Movie Database (IMDb), Wikipedia, and the like. As anotherspecific example of a contextual element, the contextual element maycorrespond to text shown in the video segment, and the information maycorrespond to a translation of the information, an alternative languageversion of the information, or other information about the text, such asan author or a meaning of the text, beyond the text itself.

The contextual accessible element may directly include the obtainedinformation, and the contextual accessible element may be associatedwith one or more types of accessible elements, such as an alternativecolor or font character version. At block 770, an audio or visual outputof the accessible contextual element may be output. It will beappreciated that an accessible contextual element may facilitatepresentation of the information to a user, such as users havingdisability, learning, language, or other barriers preventing the userfrom directly obtaining the information from the audio or video.

FIG. 8 illustrates an environment 800 including a television 805, aset-top box 810, such as a receiver, and an accessibility system 820. InFIG. 8, accessibility system 820 obtains audio output by a speaker 825of television 805, such as by using microphone 830 included inaccessibility system 820. Accessibility system 820 also obtains one ormore images or video captures of video output by television 805, such asby using camera 835.

Accessibility system 820 may perform analysis of the audio obtained bymicrophone 830 to identify one or more contextual elements. For example,the audio may be analyzed using voice recognition, or text-to-speechtechniques to identify a contextual element. As an example, the audioreceived by microphone 830 may be analyzed to identify a number ofspeakers in the audio and/or an identity of the speakers. Alternativelyor additionally, the audio may be analyzed to determine the content ofthe audio (i.e., the spoken words in the audio, actions corresponding tothe audio, or sources of the audio). Optionally, the contextual elementmay correspond to a spoken language and the accessible contextualelement may correspond to a text version of the spoken language, asimplified language version of the spoken language, or a translatedlanguage version of the spoken language. Optionally, the contextualelement may correspond to a continuous flow of information, such asspoken language or text, which is converted to an accessible contextualelement on the fly such that the accessible contextual element alsocorresponds to a continuous flow of information.

The information so identified from the audio may be used to generate anaccessible contextual element to be output. As illustrated in FIG. 8,the contextual information obtained may correspond to a number of thespeakers and this information may be output as a contextual element byaccessibility system 820. In FIG. 8, this corresponds to the text “2Speakers” depicted on the display of accessibility system 820.Additionally or alternatively, contextual analysis may be used to obtaininformation about the speaker or content and this additional informationmay be presented as a contextual element.

Accessibility system 820 may perform analysis of the video obtained bycamera 835 to identify one or more contextual elements. For example, thevideo may be analyzed using facial recognition, optical characterrecognition, shape recognition, etc., to identify a contextual element.As an example, the video received by camera 835 may be analyzed toidentify a number and/or identity of characters depicted in the video.Alternatively or additionally, the video may be analyzed to determinethe content of the video (i.e., text shown in the video, actions takingplace in the video, a location of the video, etc.).

The information so identified from the video may be used to generate anaccessible contextual element to be output. As illustrated in FIG. 8,the contextual information obtained may correspond to a number of thecharacters shown on screen and this information may be output as acontextual element by accessibility system 820. In FIG. 8, thiscorresponds to the text “1 on Screen” depicted on the display ofaccessibility system 820, indicating how many speakers are depicted onthe screen at a particular instance. Additionally or alternatively, anidentity of the character/actor or a location may be used to obtainadditional information about the character/actor or location and thisadditional information may be presented as a contextual element.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, a face may be recognized in the analysis or avoice of a speaker may be recognized in the analysis and informationabout the speaker or face may be output as an accessible interfaceelement. For example, in FIG. 8, the face or speaker detected isidentified as the actor Jon Doe and additional information about theactor is obtained by accessibility system 820 and presented for displayas an accessible interface element, such as the date of birth of theactor, and TV shows or movies the actor stars or starred. The additionalinformation may also correspond to images and these images so obtainedmay be presented as an accessible contextual element by accessibilitysystem 820. It will be appreciated that a variety of sources for thefacial information may exist, such as a network or Internet source or alocal database contained within the accessibility system that may beoptionally updated periodically or aperiodically. Various embodimentsmay include image or facial recognition algorithms performed by anaccessibility system. Optionally, images of faces may be transmitted toan external network service provider, such as a facial recognitionprovider to identify an identity of faces contained in the images.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a receiver 900 that makes use ofand/or interacts with an accessibility system. Embodiments of receiver900 may include set top boxes (STBs), television receivers, andover-the-top receivers. As previously noted, in addition to being in theform of a STB, a receiver may be incorporated as part of another device,such as a television or other form of display device, such as acomputer, smartphone, tablet, or other handheld portable electronicdevice. For example, a television may have an integrated receiver (whichdoes not involve an external STB being coupled with the television).

Receiver 900 may represent receiver 150 of FIG. 1 and may be in the formof a STB that communicates with a display device such as a television.Receiver 900 may be incorporated as part of a television, such asdisplay device 160 of FIG. 1 or television 200 of FIG. 2, etc. Receiver900 may include: processors 910 (which may include control processor910-1, tuning management processor 910-2, and possibly additionalprocessors), tuners 915, network interface 920, non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium 925, electronic programming guide (EPG)database 930, networking information table (NIT) 940, digital videorecorder (DVR) database 945 (which may include provider-managedtelevision programming storage and/or user-defined televisionprogramming), on-demand programming 927, accessibility module 932,commercial database 946, user interface 950, decryption device 960,decoder module 933, interface 935, and/or descrambling engine 965. Inother embodiments of receiver 900, fewer or greater numbers ofcomponents may be present. It should be understood that the variouscomponents of receiver 900 may be implemented using hardware, firmware,software, and/or some combination thereof. Functionality of componentsmay be combined; for example, functions of descrambling engine 965 maybe performed by tuning management processor 910-2. Further,functionality of components may be spread among additional components;for example, PID filters 955 may be handled by separate hardware fromprogram map table 957. Receiver 900 may be in data communication withaccessibility system 951, such as by way of network interface 920.

Processors 910 may include those configured to perform processes such astuning to a particular channel, accessing and displaying EPG informationfrom EPG database 930, and/or receiving and processing input from auser. For example, processors 910 may include one or more processorsdedicated to decoding video signals from a particular format, such asMPEG, for output and display on a television and for performingdecryption, if required. It should be understood that the functionsperformed by various modules of FIG. 9 may be performed using one ormore processors. As such, for example, functions of descrambling engine965 may be performed by control processor 910-1.

Control processor 910-1 may communicate with tuning management processor910-2. Control processor 910-1 may control the recording of televisionchannels based on timers stored in DVR database 945. Control processor910-1 may also provide commands to tuning management processor 910-2when recording of a television channel is to cease. In addition toproviding commands relating to the recording of television channels,control processor 910-1 may provide commands to tuning managementprocessor 910-2 that indicate television channels to be output todecoder module 933 for output to a display device. Control processor910-1 may also communicate with network interface 920 and user interface950. Control processor 910-1 may handle incoming data from networkinterface 920, including network transport streams received fromover-the-top service providers. Control processor 910-1 may handleincoming data from network interface 920, including network transportstreams received from user interface 950, which may include user inputreceived by way of one or more human interface devices. Additionally,control processor 910-1 may be configured to output data via networkinterface 920. Control processor 910 may also be configured to performimage and audio analysis, such as to identify contextual aspects presentin an audio or video stream, for example facial recognition or voicerecognition.

Tuners 915 may include one or more tuners used to tune to transpondersthat include broadcasts of one or more television channels that may bereceived from a satellite or cable system, for example. In theillustrated embodiment of receiver 900, three tuners are present (tuner915-1, tuner 915-2, and tuner 915-3). In other embodiments, two or morethan three tuners may be present, such as four, six, or eight tuners.Each tuner contained in tuners 915 may be capable of receiving andprocessing a single transponder stream from a satellite transponder at agiven time, for example. As such, a single tuner may tune to a singletransponder stream at a given time. If tuners 915 include multipletuners, one tuner may be used to tune to a television channel on a firsttransponder stream for display using a television, while another tunermay be used to tune to a television channel on a second transponder forrecording and viewing at some other time. If multiple televisionchannels transmitted on the same transponder stream are desired, asingle tuner of tuners 915 may be used to receive the signal containingthe multiple television channels for presentation and/or recording.Tuners 915 may receive commands from tuning management processor 910-2.Such commands may instruct tuners 915 which frequencies are to be usedfor tuning.

Network interface 920 may be used to communicate via an alternatecommunication channel with a television service provider, if suchcommunication channel is available. The primary communication channelmay be via satellite (which may be unidirectional to receiver 900) andthe alternate communication channel (which may be bidirectional) may bevia a network, such as the Internet. Referring back to FIG. 1, receiver150 may be able to communicate with television service provider system110 via a network, such as the Internet. This communication may bebidirectional: data may be transmitted from receiver 150 to televisionservice provider system 110 and from television service provider system110 to receiver 150. Referring back to FIG. 9, network interface 920 maybe configured to communicate via one or more networks, such as theInternet, to communicate with television service provider system 110 ofFIG. 1.

Other information may be transmitted and/or received via networkinterface 920. For example, commands, data, etc. may be transmitted toaccessibility system 951, such as data representing interface elementsto be displayed or output by accessibility system 951. For example,accessible interface elements or data corresponding to accessibleinterface elements may be transmitted to accessibility system 951 by wayof network interface 920 for display or output by accessibility system951. As another example, contextual accessibility elements may betransmitted to accessibility system 951 by way of network interface 920for display or output by accessibility system 951. It will beappreciated that accessibility system 951 may correspond to an externaldevice separate from receiver 900, such as the accessibility systems210, 310, 420, 510, 610, and 820 described above.

Storage medium 925 may represent one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage mediums. Storage medium 925 may include memoryand/or a hard drive. Storage medium 925 may be used to store informationreceived from one or more satellites and/or information received vianetwork interface 920. Storage medium 925 may store information relatedto EPG database 930, accessibility module 932 and related preferences,other non-video/audio data 931, DVR database 945, commercial database946, and/or on-demand programming 927. Recorded television programs maybe stored using storage medium 925 as part of DVR database 945. Storagemedium 925 may be partitioned or otherwise divided (such as intofolders) such that predefined amounts of storage medium 925 are devotedto storage of television programs recorded due to user-defined timersand stored television programs recorded due to provider-defined timers.

EPG database 930 may store information related to television channelsand the timing of programs appearing on such television channels. EPGdatabase 930 may be stored using storage medium 925, which may be a harddrive. Information from EPG database 930 may be used to inform users ofwhat television channels or programs are popular and/or providerecommendations to the user. Information from EPG database 930 mayprovide the user with a visual interface displayed by a television thatallows a user to browse and select television channels and/or televisionprograms for viewing and/or recording. Information used to populate EPGdatabase 930 may be received via network interface 920 and/or viasatellites, such as satellite 130 of FIG. 1 via tuners 915. Forinstance, updates to EPG database 930 may be received periodically viasatellite. EPG database 930 may serve as an interface for a user tocontrol DVR functions of receiver 900, and/or to enable viewing and/orrecording of multiple television channels simultaneously.

Accessibility module 932 may implement various functionality intoreceiver 900 related to accessibility system 951. For example,accessibility module 932, may allow for direct integration of televisionchannels received by accessibility system 951 into an electronic programguide. Further accessibility module 932 may perform contextual analysisand obtain contextual data for display or output by accessibility system951, such as to obtain data regarding persons identified in video oraudio and prepare the data for transmission to and output byaccessibility system 951. As an example, accessibility module 932 mayidentify a number of persons displayed on screen, a number of speakersspeaking, text displayed on screen, words included in audio, etc., andprovide this information to accessibility system 951 for output.Additionally, accessibility module 932 may identify interface elementsincluded in a user interface generated by receiver 900 and transmit datarelating to the interface elements to accessibility system 951 foroutput. For example, accessibility module 932 may directly generateaccessible interface elements for transmission to accessibility system951. Accessibility module 932 may also simply transmit data included inthe interface element so that accessibility system 951 may process andgenerate an accessible interface element for output. Optionally,accessibility module 932 may use information included in a transponderstream, such as closed caption information, to generate an accessibleinterface element for transmission to and output by accessibilitysystem. Accessibility module 932 may further control and store userpreferences relating to accessibility features and accessibility system951, such as which accessibility features are active on a particularaccessibility system, or which accessibility features are active for aparticular user, or particular settings for various accessibilityfeatures, such as font color, font size, font texture, language, audiovolume, audio language/dialect, etc.

The network information table (NIT) 940 may store information used byreceiver 900 to access various television channels. NIT 940 may bestored locally by a processor, such as tuning management processor 910-2and/or by storage medium 925. Information used to populate NIT 940 maybe received via satellite (or cable) through tuners 915, may be receivedvia network interface 920, such as from the television service provider.As such, information present in NIT 940 may be periodically updated. Insome embodiments, NIT 940 may be locally-stored by receiver 900 usingstorage medium 925. Generally, NIT 940 may store information about aservice provider network, such as a satellite-based service providernetwork. Information that may be present in NIT 940 may include:television channel numbers, satellite identifiers (which may be used toensure different satellites are tuned to for reception of desiredtelevision channels), frequency identifiers, transponder identifiers forvarious television channels, antenna identifiers (which may be used toensure different antennas are tuned to for reception of desiredtelevision channels), radio frequency identifiers, and/or subchannelidentifiers for various television channels. In some embodiments, NIT940 may contain additional data or additional tables may be stored bythe receiver. For example, while specific audio PIDs and video PIDs maynot be present in NIT 940, a channel identifier may be present withinNIT 940 which may be used to look up the audio PIDs and video PIDs inanother table, such as a program map table (PMT). In some embodiments, aPID associated with the data for the PMT is indicated in a separatetable, program association table (PAT), which is not illustrated in FIG.9. A PAT may be stored by the receiver in a similar manner to the NIT.For example, a PMT may store information on audio PIDs, and/or videoPIDs. A PMT stores data on ECM (entitlement control message) PIDs fortelevision channels that are transmitted on a transponder stream,transport stream, or digital broadcast. If, for a first televisionchannel, multiple television channels are to be tuned to, NIT 940 and/orPMT 957 may indicate a second television channel that is to be tuned towhen a first channel is tuned to; this may allow for switching to outputof the second television channel for different commercials, for example.

A table, such as the NIT, PAT, or PMT may store indications of PIDs thatare related to supplemental audio content for individual channels orother forms of content. For instance, each television channel may beassociated with a different supplemental audio PID. If supplementalaudio content is to be transmitted for a given television channel,packets containing the supplemental audio are transmitted to thereceiver having its associated supplemental audio content PID. This PIDcould be distinct from any of the audio programs of the televisionprogramming (e.g., the first audio program, second audio program (SAP),actual descriptive audio). In some embodiments, supplemental audiocontent is transmitted using the same transponder stream as thetelevision channel or content to which the supplemental audio contentcorresponds. In some embodiments, a single supplemental audio PID isused to identify supplemental audio for multiple television channels,such as all the television channels on a given transponder. A secondidentifier present within the supplemental audio data may be used todistinguish for which television channel the supplemental audio datacorresponds.

Based on information in the NIT, it may be possible to determine theproper satellite and transponder to which to tune for a particulartelevision channel, or to determine the proper antenna and frequency towhich to tune to for a particular television channel. In someembodiments, the NIT may list a particular frequency to which to tunefor a particular television channel. Once tuned to the propersatellite/transponder/antenna/frequency, the PMT PID may be used toretrieve a program map table that indicates the PIDs for audio and videostreams of television channels transmitted by that transponder.

While a large portion of storage space of storage medium 925 may bedevoted to storage of television programming, a portion may be devotedto storage of non-audio/video data, such as EPG database 930 and othernon-video/audio data 931. This “other” data may permit receiver 900 tofunction properly. In some embodiments, at least ten gigabytes areallocated to such other data. For example, if NIT 940 is stored bystorage medium 925, it may be part of other non-video/audio data 931.

Decoder module 933 may serve to convert encoded video and audio into aformat suitable for output to a display device. For instance, Decodermodule 933 may receive MPEG video and audio from storage medium 925,network interface 920, or descrambling engine 965 to be output to atelevision. MPEG video and audio from storage medium 924 may have beenrecorded to DVR database 945 as part of a previously-recorded televisionprogram. Decoder module 933 may convert the MPEG video and audio into aformat appropriate to be displayed by a television or other form ofdisplay device and audio into a format appropriate to be output fromspeakers, respectively. Decoder module 933 may have the ability toconvert a finite number of television channel streams received fromstorage medium 925, network interface 920 or descrambling engine 965simultaneously. For instance, each of decoders 934 within decoder module933 may be able to only decode a single television channel at a time.

While a television channel is being decoded by a decoder of decoders934, the television channel is not necessarily output to a displaydevice via television interface 935. For instance, a television channelmay be decoded but not output to allow for seamless or near-seamlessswitching to the television channel when output is desired. For example,if a second television channel is to be output for presentation duringcommercial breaks on a first television channel, the second televisionchannel and the first television channel may each be continuouslydecoded by different decoders of decoder module 933 to allow for fastswitching between the channels. Without a television channel beingcontinuously decoded, fast switching may be difficult due at least inpart to the format in which the channel is encoded. For instance, forMPEG encoding, it may be necessary to first decode an I-frame beforecertain subsequent (or earlier) received frames may be properly decoded.The output of the decoder, which is provided to television interface935, may be controlled by control processor 910-1 or some otherprocessor. While decoder module 933 is illustrated as having threedecoders 934 (decoder 934-1, decoder 934-2, and decoder 934-3), in otherembodiments, a greater or fewer number of decoders may be present inreceiver 900.

Television interface 935 may serve to output a signal to a television(or another form of display device) in a proper format for display ofvideo and playback of audio. As such, television interface 935 mayoutput one or more television channels, stored television programmingfrom storage medium 925 (e.g., television programs from DVR database945, television programs from on-demand programming 927 and/orinformation from EPG database 930) to a television for presentation.

Digital Video Recorder (DVR) functionality may permit a televisionchannel to be recorded for a period of time. DVR functionality ofreceiver 900 may be managed by control processor 910-1. Controlprocessor 910-1 may coordinate the television channel, start time, andstop time of when recording of a television channel is to occur. DVRdatabase 945 may store information related to the recording oftelevision channels. DVR database 945 may store timers that are used bycontrol processor 910-1 to determine when a television channel should betuned to and its programs recorded to DVR database 945 of storage medium925. In some embodiments, a limited amount of storage medium 925 may bedevoted to DVR database 945. Timers may be set by the television serviceprovider and/or one or more users of receiver 900.

DVR database 945 may also be used to record recordings of serviceprovider-defined television channels. For each day, an array of filesmay be created. For example, based on provider-defined timers, a filemay be created for each recorded television channel for a day. Forexample, if four television channels are recorded from 6-10 PM on agiven day, four files may be created (one for each television channel).Within each file, one or more television programs may be present. Theservice provider may define the television channels, the dates, and thetime periods for which the television channels are recorded for theprovider-defined timers. The provider-defined timers may be transmittedto receiver 900 via the television provider's network. For example,referring to satellite television distribution system 100 of FIG. 1, ina satellite-based television service provider system, data necessary tocreate the provider-defined timers at receiver 150 may be received viasatellite. It will be appreciated that accessibility systems describedherein may be configured to receive and or identify provider-definedtimers as interface elements, such as interface elements having aparticular focus, and may generate accessible interface elementscorresponding to accessible alternative versions of the provider-definedtimers.

As an example of DVR functionality of receiver 900 being used to recordbased on provider-defined timers, a television service provider mayconfigure receiver 900 to record television programming on multiple,predefined television channels for a predefined period of time, onpredefined dates. For instance, a television service provider mayconfigure receiver 900 such that television programming may be recordedfrom 7 to 10 PM on NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX on each weeknight and from 6to 10 PM on each weekend night on the same channels. These channels maybe transmitted as part of a single transponder stream such that only asingle tuner needs to be used to receive the television channels.Packets for such television channels may be interspersed and may bereceived and recorded to a file. If a television program is selected forrecording by a user and is also specified for recording by thetelevision service provider, the user selection may serve as anindication to save the television program for an extended time (beyondthe time which the predefined recording would otherwise be saved).Television programming recorded based on provider-defined timers may bestored to a portion of storage medium 925 for provider-managedtelevision programming storage.

On-demand programming 927 may represent additional televisionprogramming stored by storage medium 925. On-demand programming 927 mayinclude television programming that was not recorded to storage medium925 via a timer (either user- or provider-defined). Rather, on-demandprogramming is programming provided to the receiver directly for storageby the receiver and for later presentation to one or more users.On-demand programming 927 may not be user-selected. As such, thetelevision programming stored to on-demand programming storage 927 maybe the same for each receiver of a television service provider.

User interface 950 may include a remote control (physically separatefrom receiver 900) and/or one or more buttons on receiver 900 that allowa user to interact with receiver 900. User interface 950 may be used toselect a television channel for viewing, view information from EPGdatabase 930, and/or program a timer stored to DVR database 945, whereinthe timer is used to control the DVR functionality of control processor910-1. User interface 950 may also be used to transmit commands toreceiver 900.

Referring back to tuners 915, television channels received via satellite(or cable) may contain at least some scrambled data. Packets of audioand video may be scrambled to prevent unauthorized users (e.g.,nonsubscribers) from receiving television programming without paying thetelevision service provider. When a tuner of tuners 915 is receivingdata from a particular transponder of a satellite, the transponderstream may be a series of data packets corresponding to multipletelevision channels. Each data packet may contain a packet identifier(PID), which, in combination with NIT 940 and/or PMT 957, may bedetermined to be associated with a particular television channel.Particular data packets, referred to as entitlement control messages(ECMs), may be periodically transmitted. ECMs may be associated withanother PID and may be encrypted; receiver 900 may use decryption device960 to decrypt ECMs. Decryption of an ECM may only be possible if theuser has authorization to access the particular television channelassociated with the ECM. When an ECM is determined to correspond to atelevision channel being stored and/or displayed, the ECM may beprovided to decryption device 960 for decryption.

Decryption device 960 may be a removable or non-removable smart card.When decryption device 960 receives an encrypted ECM, decryption device960 may decrypt the ECM to obtain some number of control words. In someembodiments, from each ECM received by decryption device 960, twocontrol words are obtained. In some embodiments, when decryption device960 receives an ECM, it compares the ECM to the previously received ECM.If the two ECMs match, the second ECM is not decrypted because the samecontrol words would be obtained. In other embodiments, each ECM receivedby decryption device 960 is decrypted; however, if a second ECM matchesa first ECM, the outputted control words will match; thus, effectively,the second ECM does not affect the control words output by decryptiondevice 960. Decryption device 960 may be permanently part of receiver900 or may be configured to be inserted and removed from receiver 900.In some embodiments, control processor 910-1, tuning managementprocessor 910-2, or other hardware may be able to determine that areceived ECM has not changed from the previous iteration, and thereforenot provide the repeated ECM to the smart card, since the same controlword(s) will be obtained.

Tuning management processor 910-2 may be in communication with tuners915 and control processor 910-1. Tuning management processor 910-2 maybe configured to receive commands from control processor 910-1. Suchcommands may indicate when to start/stop recording a television channeland/or when to start/stop causing a television channel to be output to atelevision. Tuning management processor 910-2 may control tuners 915.From tuners 915, tuning management processor 910-2 may receivetransponder streams of packetized data. From network interface 920,tuning management processor 910-2 may receive network transport streamof packetized data. As previously detailed, some or all of these packetsmay include a PID that identifies the content of the packet.

Tuning management processor 910-2 may be configured to create one ormore PID filters 955 that sort packets received from tuners 915 and/ornetwork interface 920 based on the PIDs. When a tuner is initially tunedto a particular frequency (e.g., to a particular transponder of asatellite), a PID filter may be created based on the PMT data. The PIDcreated, based on the PMT data packets, may be known because it isstored as part of NIT 940 or another table, such as a programassociation table (PAT). From the PMT data packets, PMT may beconstructed by tuning management processor 910-2.

PID filters 955 may be configured to filter data packets based on PIDs.In some embodiments, PID filters 955 are created and executed by tuningmanagement processor 910-2. For each television channel to be output forpresentation or recorded, a separate PID filter may be configured. Inother embodiments, separate hardware may be used to create and executesuch PID filters. Depending on a television channel selected forrecording/viewing, a PID filter may be created to filter: (1) the videopackets associated with the television channel; (2) the audio packetsassociated with the television channel; and (3), if enabled,supplemental audio content for use in conjunction with interactivecontent. PMT 957 may store the particular assignments of PIDs forindividual television channels. For example, if a transponder datastream includes multiple television channels, data packets correspondingto a television channel that is not desired to be stored or displayed bythe user may be ignored by PID filters 955 and not routed todescrambling engine 965, decryption device 960 or control processor910-1. As such, only data packets corresponding to the one or moretelevision channels desired to be stored and/or displayed may befiltered and passed to either descrambling engine 965 or decryptiondevice 960; other data packets may be ignored. For each televisionchannel, a stream of video packets, a stream of audio packets (one orboth of the audio programs), a stream of supplemental audio content,and/or a stream of ECM packets may be present, each stream identified bya PID. In some embodiments, a common ECM stream may be used for multipletelevision channels. Additional data packets corresponding to otherinformation, such as updates to NIT 940, may be appropriately routed byPID filters 955. At a given time, one or multiple PID filters may beexecuted by tuning management processor 910-2.

Descrambling engine 965 may use the control words output by decryptiondevice 960 in order to descramble video and/or audio corresponding totelevision channels for storage and/or presentation. Video and/or audiodata contained in the transponder data stream received by tuners 915 maybe scrambled. Video and/or audio data may be descrambled by descramblingengine 965 using a particular control word. Which control word output bydecryption device 960 to be used for successful descrambling may beindicated by a scramble control identifier present within the datapacket containing the scrambled video or audio. Descrambled video and/oraudio may be output by descrambling engine 965 to storage medium 925 forstorage (in DVR database 945) and/or to decoder module 933 for output toa television or other presentation equipment via television interface935.

For simplicity, receiver 900 of FIG. 9 has been reduced to a blockdiagram; commonly known parts, such as a power supply, have beenomitted. Further, some routing between the various modules of receiver900 has been illustrated. Such illustrations are for exemplary purposesonly. The state of two modules not being directly or indirectlyconnected does not indicate the modules cannot communicate. Rather,connections between modules of the receiver 900 are intended only toindicate possible common data routing. It should be understood that themodules of receiver 900 may be combined into a fewer number of modulesor divided into a greater number of modules.

FIG. 10 depicts an example television display environment 1000. Displayenvironment 1000 includes a receiver 1005 that generates a userinterface for output by television 1010. Receiver 1005 includesaccessibility module 1015, which may provide data related toaccessibility interface elements to accessibility system 1020 foroutput.

In FIG. 10, television 1010 displays a window 1025 that includes video,such as video corresponding to a television channel received from acable, satellite, or over-the air broadcast system. Television 1010 alsodisplays an electronic program guide (EPG) 1030, which corresponds tochannel information, timing of programs, and the like, for televisionprograms and channels that may be displayed by receiver 1005 andtelevision 1010. As illustrated, the EPG 1030 identifies a first channel“2009,” which may correspond, for example, to a first televisionchannel, and a second channel “2010,” which may correspond, for example,to a second television channel. Items in the EPG 1030 may be selectableusing a user interface that may make use of a remote control or otherinput device to interact with EPG 1030. As illustrated, indicator 1035may highlight, as an example program, the World Series for immediatedisplay on television 1010, such as in window 1025. Other features mayalso be implemented using the interface displayed, such as selection ofrecording one or more television channels or programs for storage to aDVR database.

The display interface may also include an item 1040 to accessaccessibility module setup interface 1050, which may allow for selectionof a command for the receiver to configure the accessibility module1015, for example. As an example, selection of the command to configurethe accessibility module 1015, may generate a “pop-up” window or otherinterface that allows for interaction and control over configuration orinformation aspects relating to accessibility module 1015 andaccessibility system 1020. In the accessibility module configurationinterface 1050 that is generated, options 1055 may be selected,activated, changed, or displayed, for example. Useful options 1055 mayinclude, but are not limited to, activation, deactivation, and/orconfiguration of a color change, such as to facilitate use of accessibleinterface elements by a color blind or low vision user, activation,deactivation, or configuration of a text change, such as to facilitateaccessible interface elements by a color blind or low vision user,activation, deactivation, or configuration of feedback, such as tofacilitate confirmation of input entry, activation, deactivation, orconfiguration of a language. It will be appreciated that selection of aparticular language may allow the accessible interface elements to beoutput in the particular language, which may provide translationservices to a user. For example, a user that can only read/speak Frenchmay select the French language so that accessible interface elements areoutput in French. As illustrated in FIG. 10, a simplified languageoption may also be available, such as simplified English (S-ENG), whichmay provide for accessible interface elements to be output in asimplified language so that a user may be better able to understand thecontents.

Also included in accessibility module configuration interface 1050 maybe an informational item 1060 that may provide for selection of aparticular user, loading of preferences, storing of preferences.Optionally, informational item 1060 may provide additional informationregarding accessibility system 1020, such as operational or networkcharacteristics, which may be useful in facilitating configuration,support, or troubleshooting of accessibility system 1020 andaccessibility module 1015.

Accessibility module configuration interface 1050 may also include anoption 1065 for activating or deactivating the accessibility module1015, such as to add/or remove interface features of receiver 1005 thatrelate to accessibility module 1015 and/or accessibility system 1020.Accessibility module configuration interface 1050 may also include anoption 1070 for adding, removing, or editing users associated withaccessibility module 1015 and/or accessibility system 1020.

FIG. 11 provides an overview of an exemplary method 1100 for operating aset top box of some embodiments, such as a receiver, televisionreceiver, over-the-top receiver, etc. At block 1105, the method includesestablishing a data connection with a remote device, such as anaccessibility system. The data connection may correspond to a wired orwireless connection. The data connection may correspond to a networkconnection.

At block 1110, the method includes generating a graphical interface,such as a graphical interface of the set top box. At block 1115, aninterface element may be identified. The interface element maycorrespond to an interface element having focus. The interface elementmay correspond to an interface element lacking focus. In variousembodiments, multiple interface elements are identified.

At block 1120, an accessible interface element is generated using theidentified interface element. Optionally, multiple accessible interfaceelements are generated. For example, an accessible interface element maycorrespond to a different presentation of an interface element, such asto facilitate presentation to and/or use by a user. Optionally, theaccessible interface element corresponds to an interface element havingfocus. Optionally the accessible interface element corresponds to aninterface element lacking focus.

At block 1125, a signal is transmitted by the set top box, such as asignal including or providing the an interface element to a remotedevice, such as an accessibility system. For example, the interfaceelement may correspond to the identified interface element or anaccessible interface element. Optionally, the accessible interfaceelement is generated by a remote device, such as an accessibility systemupon receipt of the interface element. In this way, either or both theset top box and the accessibility system may be used to generate theaccessible interface element. It will be appreciated that theembodiments described where a set-top box generates an accessibleinterface element corresponds to only some embodiments and that in someother embodiments the accessible system generates accessible interfaceelements on its own without the aid of a set-top box.

At block 1130, optionally, audio and/or video from the set top box isanalyzed to identify a contextual element, as described above withreference to FIGS. 7-8. At block 1135, the contextual element may beused to generate an accessible contextual element. In variousembodiments, the contextual element may be transmitted to a remotedevice to facilitate presentation of an accessible contextual element.Optionally, the contextual element may be used to generate an accessiblecontextual element by the set top box. Optionally, a signal including orproviding the accessible contextual element may be transmitted to aremote device, such as an accessibility system, to facilitatepresentation, such as an audio or video presentation.

A computing device as illustrated in FIG. 12 may be incorporated as partof the previously described computerized devices, such as televisionservice provider system 110, content provider system 111, receiver 150,a television, a set-top box, accessibility system 951, etc. FIG. 12provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computingdevice 1200 that may perform various steps of the methods provided byvarious embodiments. It should be noted that FIG. 12 is meant only toprovide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all ofwhich may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 12, therefore, broadlyillustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in arelatively separated or relatively more integrated manner.

The computing device 1200 is shown comprising hardware elements that maybe electrically coupled via a bus 1205 (or may otherwise be incommunication). The hardware elements may include one or more processors1210, including without limitation one or more general-purposeprocessors and/or one or more special-purpose processors (such asdigital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, videodecoders, and/or the like); one or more input devices 1215, which mayinclude without limitation a mouse, a touchscreen, keyboard, remotecontrol, voice input, and/or the like; and one or more output devices1220, which may include without limitation a display device, a printer,speaker, etc.

The computing device 1200 may further include (and/or be incommunication with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1225,which may comprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessiblestorage, and/or may include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drivearray, an optical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such asa solid state drive (“SSD”), random access memory (“RAM”), and/or aread-only memory (“ROM”), which may be programmable, flash-updateableand/or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement anyappropriate data stores, including without limitation, various filesystems, database structures, and/or the like.

The computing device 1200 might also include a communications subsystem1230, which may include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wirelesscommunication device, and/or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device,BLE, an 802.11 device, an 802.15.4 device, a WiFi device, a WiMaxdevice, cellular communication device, etc.), a G.hn device, and/or thelike. The communications subsystem 1230 may permit data to be exchangedwith a network (such as the network described below, to name oneexample), other computer systems, and/or any other devices describedherein. In many embodiments, the computing device 1200 will furthercomprise a working memory 1235, which may include a RAM or ROM device,as described above.

The computing device 1200 also may comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 1235, including anoperating system 1240, device drivers, executable libraries, and/orother code, such as one or more application programs 1245, which maycomprise computer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or maybe designed to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed abovemight be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by acomputer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then,such code and/or instructions may be used to configure and/or adapt ageneral purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or moreoperations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 1225 described above. In some cases,the storage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, suchas computing device 1200. In other embodiments, the storage medium mightbe separate from a computer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as acompact disc, or a cloud- or network-based storage system), and/orprovided in an installation package, such that the storage medium may beused to program, configure, and/or adapt a general purpose computer withthe instructions/code stored thereon. These instructions might take theform of executable code, which is executable by the computing device1200 and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code,which, upon compilation and/or installation on the computing device 1200(e.g., using any of a variety of generally available compilers,installation programs, compression/decompression utilities, etc.), thentakes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputing device (such as the computing device 1200) to perform methodsin accordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to aset of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computing device 1200 in response to processor 1210executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 1240 and/or other code, suchas an application program 1245) contained in the working memory 1235.Such instructions may be read into the working memory 1235 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as one or more of the non-transitorystorage device(s) 1225. Merely by way of example, execution of thesequences of instructions contained in the working memory 1235 mightcause the processor(s) 1210 to perform one or more procedures of themethods described herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable storage medium”and “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium thatparticipates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in aspecific fashion. These mediums may be non-transitory. In an embodimentimplemented using the computing device 1200, various computer-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)1210 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take theform of a non-volatile media or volatile media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 1225. Volatile media include, withoutlimitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory 1235.

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, any other physical medium with patterns of marks, a RAM, a PROM,EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any othermedium from which a computer may read instructions and/or code.Network-based and cloud-based storage systems may also be useful formsof computer-readable media.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 1210for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computing device 1200.

The communications subsystem 1230 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive signals, and the bus 1205 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 1235, from which the processor(s) 1210 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 1235 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device1225 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 1210.

It should further be understood that the components of computing device1200 may be distributed across a network. For example, some processingmay be performed in one location using a first processor while otherprocessing may be performed by another processor remote from the firstprocessor. Other components of computing device 1200 may be similarlydistributed. As such, computing device 1200 may be interpreted as adistributed computing system that performs processing in multiplelocations. In some instances, computing device 1200 may be interpretedas a single computing device, such as a distinct laptop, desktopcomputer, or the like, depending on the context.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various method steps orprocedures, or system components as appropriate. For instance, inalternative configurations, the methods may be performed in an orderdifferent from that described, and/or various stages or steps or modulesmay be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also, features described withrespect to certain configurations may be combined in various otherconfigurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations maybe combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus,many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of thedisclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those of skill with an enabling descriptionfor implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made inthe function and arrangement of elements without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations may beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Furthermore, the examples described herein may be implemented as logicaloperations in a computing device in a networked computing systemenvironment. The logical operations may be implemented as: (i) asequence of computer implemented instructions, steps, or program modulesrunning on a computing device; and (ii) interconnected logic or hardwaremodules running within a computing device.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: obtaining, by an imagecapture device, an image of a user interface of a consumer electronicdevice, the user interface being an electronic program guide comprisinga plurality of interface elements each to facilitate a correspondinguser interaction with a feature of the consumer electronic devicerelating to the electronic program guide; analyzing the image,responsive to the obtaining, to identify an interface element of theplurality of interface elements and to identify the feature of theconsumer electronic device corresponding to the identified interfaceelement; generating, responsive to the analyzing, instructionsexecutable by a computing device separate from the consumer electronicdevice to define an accessible interface element as associated with adifferent audio or visual presentation than that of the identifiedinterface element by which to provide at least a different userinteraction with the feature of the consumer electronic devicecorresponding to the identified interface element; and executing theinstructions by the computing device to output the accessible interfaceelement in accordance with providing, via the computing device, at leastthe different user interaction with the feature of the consumerelectronic device corresponding to the identified interface element. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving input correspondingto identification of the interface element; and wirelessly transmittinga command to facilitate selection of the interface element in thegraphical interface.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:receiving the command at an actuation device; and actuating a physicalinput device using the actuation device to facilitate selection of theinterface element in the user interface.
 4. The method of claim 2,further comprising: outputting a second audio or visual output toconfirm selection of the interface element or outputting a tactileoutput to confirm selection of the interface element.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving input corresponding to selectionof a second interface element; generating a second accessible interfaceelement using the second interface element to facilitate use by theuser; and outputting a second audio or visual output of the secondaccessible interface element.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving input corresponding to selection of a secondinterface element; receiving input corresponding to a command to ignorethe second interface element.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: obtaining a second image of the graphical interface usingthe image capture device; analyzing the image of the graphical interfaceand the second image of the graphical interface to identify a change tothe graphical interface; and determining element focus in the graphicalinterface based on the change.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theaccessible interface element corresponds to an audio version of theinterface element, wherein the accessible interface element correspondsto a text version of an audio interface element, wherein the accessibleinterface element corresponds to an alternative color version of theinterface element, wherein the accessible interface element correspondsto a magnified version of the interface element, wherein the accessibleinterface element corresponds to a simplified language version of theinterface element, wherein the accessible interface element correspondsto a translated language version of the interface element, wherein theaccessible interface element corresponds to a version of text having asecond font size greater than a first font size of text in the interfaceelement, wherein the accessible interface element corresponds to aversion of text having a second texture different from a first textureof text in the interface element, or wherein the accessible interfaceelement corresponds to a version of text having a second font styledifferent from a first font style of text in the interface element. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a graphicalinterface providing a selectable element, wherein the selectable elementcorresponds to a type of the accessible interface element; receivinginput corresponding to a particular selection of the selectable element,wherein generating the accessible interface element includes using theinterface element and the type corresponding to the particular selectionof the selectable element.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: obtaining audio output generated by the consumer electronicdevice using an audio capture device; analyzing the audio to identify acontextual element in the audio; generating an accessible contextualelement using the contextual element, wherein the accessible contextualelement corresponds to a different presentation of the contextualelement to facilitate presentation to the user; and outputting an audioor visual output of the accessible contextual element.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: obtaining a second image corresponding to avideo presentation of the consumer electronic device using the imagecapture device; analyzing the second image to identify a contextualelement; generating an accessible contextual element using thecontextual element, wherein the accessible contextual elementcorresponds to a different presentation of the contextual element tofacilitate presentation to the user; and outputting an audio or visualoutput of the accessible contextual element.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein the computing device comprises the image capture device.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises a plurality ofphysical interface elements disposed on the consumer electronic device.14. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises aplurality of graphical interface elements displayed on the consumerelectronic device.
 15. A system, comprising: one or more processors; anda non-transitory computer readable storage medium in data communicationwith the one or more processors, wherein non-transitory computerreadable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations including: obtaining, by an imagecapture device, an image of a user interface of a consumer electronicdevice, the user interface being an electronic program guide comprisinga plurality of interface elements each to facilitate a correspondinguser interaction with a feature of the consumer electronic devicerelating to the electronic program guide; analyzing the image,responsive to the obtaining, to identify an interface element of theplurality of interface elements and to identify the feature of theconsumer electronic device corresponding to the identified interfaceelement; generating, responsive to the analyzing, instructionsexecutable by a computing device separate from the consumer electronicdevice to define an accessible interface element as associated with adifferent audio or visual presentation than that of the identifiedinterface element by which to provide at least a different userinteraction with the feature of the consumer electronic devicecorresponding to the identified interface element; and executing theinstructions by the computing device to output the accessible interfaceelement in accordance with providing, via the computing device, at leastthe different user interaction with the feature of the consumerelectronic device corresponding to the identified interface element. 16.The system of claim 15, further comprising: the image capture device,wherein the image capture device is positioned in data communicationwith the one or more processors.
 17. A receiver comprising: one or moreprocessors; an audio-video output interface in data communication withthe one or more processors; a network interface in data communicationwith the one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium in data communication with the one or more processors,wherein non-transitory computer readable storage medium includesprocessor-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsincluding: establishing a data connection with a remote computing deviceusing the network interface; generating a graphical interface for outputby a presentation device using the audio-video output interface, thegraphical interface being an electronic program guide comprising aplurality of interface elements each to facilitate a corresponding userinteraction with a feature of the receiver relating to the electronicprogram guide; identifying an interface element of the plurality ofinterface elements of the graphical interface; generating instructionsexecutable by the remote computing device to define an accessibleinterface element as associated with a different audio or visualpresentation than that of the identified interface element by which toprovide at least a different user interaction with the feature of thereceiver corresponding to the identified interface element; andtransmitting to the remote computing device, using the networkinterface, a signal providing the instructions executable by the remotecomputing device to define the accessible interface element tofacilitate presentation of the accessible interface element to a userfor providing at least the different user interaction with the featureof the receiver corresponding to the identified interface element. 18.The receiver of claim 17, wherein the accessible interface elementcorresponds to an audio version of the interface element, wherein theaccessible interface element corresponds to a magnified version of theinterface element, wherein the accessible interface element correspondsto an alternative color version of the interface element, wherein theaccessible interface element corresponds to a simplified languageversion of the interface element, wherein the accessible interfaceelement corresponds to a translated language version of the interfaceelement, wherein the accessible interface element corresponds to aversion of text having a second font size greater than a first font sizeof text in the interface element, wherein the accessible interfaceelement corresponds to a version of text having a second font styledifferent from a first font style of text in the interface element, orwherein the accessible interface element corresponds to a version oftext having a second texture different from a first texture of text inthe interface element.
 19. The receiver of claim 17, wherein theoperations further include: analyzing audio received at or generated bythe receiver to identify a contextual element in the audio; generatingan accessible contextual element using the contextual element, whereinthe accessible contextual element corresponds to a differentpresentation of the contextual element to facilitate presentation to theuser; and transmitting, using the network interface, a signal providingthe accessible contextual element to the remote computing device tofacilitate an audio or visual presentation of the accessible interfaceelement to the user.
 20. The receiver of claim 17, wherein theoperations further include: analyzing video received at or generated bythe receiver to identify a contextual element in the video; generatingan accessible contextual element using the contextual element, whereinthe accessible contextual element corresponds to a differentpresentation of the contextual element to facilitate presentation to theuser; and transmitting, using the network interface, a signal providingthe accessible contextual element to the remote computing device tofacilitate an audio or visual presentation of the accessible interfaceelement to the user.